Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1887-11-26

DROPPING TIEs on THE TRACK
whole road ahead Of us? If SO, VIC would
do well to abandon our efforts for the
destruction OF bridges md seek our own
safety. OF one thing we felt sure, it
must have been one of the trains VIC had
passed at Calhoun or Adairsville that was
following, but why? There were three
possibilities only to choose from. Tho
first and less serious was that the sus-
piciOus conductor at Calhoun, who had
been so unwilling to let us pass, had tie
tcrmined that we were impostors, and Mt
his own motion had set out to follow us.
RI so, we would have to deal only with
him, and might yet accomplish Il part of
our work. Or 1t might cthat the freight
had run to where we had broken up the
track, Ind escaped wreck, and, turning
back, had tclcgraphcd ahead before
VIC Ind cut the wire. In this
case all the road ahead would be
alarmed, and this WAS probable indeed.
Or, once more, a messenger might have
been sent down to Marietta from Big
Shanty, and Il dispatch sent to Atlanta
and around the whole circuit Of the
Confcleracy back to Chattanooga, aud,
before the wires had been cut, to one of
the trains we had passed, with orders to
follow us closely and prevent us from
damaging the road until Il train could
be ent out from Chattanooga to secure
our capture. If either of these latter
conjccturcs were truc-and they were the
most pr0bablc-Our race was almost run!
We would be obliged to leave the road, and
essay the far more difficult task of
either OF these probably true, 1t would
fully Orro,,,f Cor his. rn1,cfn moo IN nrIn,..
ing the capture OF n pursuing train; for
such n capture could do no permanent
good, while every one of his party wounded
in the fight would be disabled for the in
cvitablc and terrible land Journey ahead,
and would surely be lost. In view Of the
almost hopeless situation us it appeared
to us then-far worse than the reality,
for the road ahead had not been warned
as yet-the heroic consistency Of Andrews,
who continued to put forth every possible
effort as coolly and quietly as il success
had been within his grasp, is made
brightly conspicuous. There were now
three chasing trains; first, Fuller and his
men with the locomotive Of the down
freight; second, the Calhoun passenger,
which had Immediately followed him and
was not very far behind; and last, the
train started from Marietta, and loadet
with soldiers.
For "a time after leaving Hesaca VIC dt
not run very fast. 1t was evident that W.
could not get away from The engine be
hind us by mere speed; the only hope was
in some way to disable them, or to OBJ
strnctt the track; and we were Obliged tt
be saving Of our fuel. But now We were
approaching Green's. Il wood station neal
TiltOn, and We were determined to have q
fresh supply at any cOs:. So the last wOUI
in the box, with a little of our prcciOu:
oil, was showed into the furnace, and
Brown, who had 10Y taken the throttle,
turned on n full head Of stc;In, and wt
once more flew along the track. At tho
same time we who we're in the box Cur
put n line Of ties along its floor and KEEP,
them moving to the hole in the end, and
let them drop as fast as possible on thu
track. This was rapidly cxhausting Oul
ammunition, but it was cTcctual in cnforc.
ing slowness and caution upon our pur
suers. Fuller could not run rapidly ir
the face of such n succession Of obstacles.
He did the best he could, giving the sig
nal to reverse whenever he saw n tie on
the track, jumping off and removing it.
and on again, when the engineer would
start with a full head of steam, and re.
Grce speed, as the engine gathered head
way to such n rate as would admit OF
stopping in time when another tie was
seen. 1t was fearfnlly perilous; and the
only wonder is that he was not wrecked
long before the chase was done. But ht
probably understood that we were racing
for the wood yard ahead.
When we reached it there was nc lil,yer
ing in the work Of loading up. The woct
was piled in frantically by men working
for life; but before VIZ had half filled the
tender we again heard our relentless fol
lower. So eager were we to get the larg
est possible supply of wood that we did
not take their first whistle as n sufficient
intimation to start. Then came scream
after scream Of the most unearthly char
acter. obviously designed to alarm tn
keeper Of the woodward that he Nigh
hinder us from getting a full supply. Blu
this did not discourage us, for even whel
Andrews reluctantly gave the word t
come on board, Wilson, who as fireman
had q great appreciation Of the need Q
fuel, fingered still to get o huge armloai
more, and the enemy, seeing our engin
standing there, were actually obliged t